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FEEDING YOUR CAT
FEEDING YOUR CAT: KNOW
THE BASICS OF FELINE NUTRITION
Lisa A. Pierson, DVM
Diet is the brick and mortar of health. This handout
lays out some often-ignored principles of feline nutrition
and explains why cats have a better chance at optimal
health if they are fed a quality canned food diet instead
of dry kibble. Putting a little thought into what you
feed your cat(s) can pay big dividends over their lifetime
and very possibly help them avoid serious, painful and
costly illnesses.
Cats Need Animal-Based Protein
Cats are obligate (strict) carnivores and are very different
from dogs in their nutritional needs. What does it mean
to be an ‘obligate carnivore'? It means that your cat
was built by Mother Nature to get her nutritional needs
met by the consumption of a large amount of animal-based
proteins (meat) and derives much less nutritional support
from plant-based proteins (grains). It means that cats
lack specific metabolic (enzymatic) pathways and cannot
utilize plant proteins as efficiently as animal proteins.
It is very important to remember that not all proteins
are created equal. The protein in dry food, which is
heavily plant-based, is not equal in quality to the
protein in canned food, which is meat-based. The protein
in dry food is, therefore, less bioavailable to your
cat.
Do not be confused by the listing of the protein percentages
in dry food compared to canned food. At first glance,
it might appear that the dry food has a higher amount
of protein than the canned food—but this is not true
on a dry matter basis which is the accurate way to compare
the two foods. Most canned foods, when figured on a
dry matter basis, have more protein than dry food. And
remember, even if this were not the case, the percentage
numbers do not tell the whole story. It is the protein's
bioavailability that is critical.
We Are Feeding Cats Too Many Carbohydrates
In their natural setting, cats—whose unique biology
makes them true carnivores--would not consume the high
level of carbohydrates (grains) that are in the dry
foods that we routinely feed them. You would never see
a wild cat chasing down a herd of biscuits running across
the plains of Africa or dehydrating her mouse and topping
it off with corn meal gluten souffle! In the wild, your
cat would be eating a high protein, high-moisture content,
meat-based diet, with a moderate level of fat and with
only ~6-9% of her diet consisting of carbohydrates.
The average dry food contains 35-50% carbohydrates.
Some of the cheaper dry foods contain even higher levels.
This is NOT the diet that Mother Nature intended for
your cat to eat! A high quality canned food, on the
other hand, contains ~3-6% carbohydrates. Cats have
a physiological decrease in the ability to utilize carbohydrates
due to the lack of specific enzymatic pathways that
are present in other mammals, and the lack a salivary
enzyme called amylase. Cats not only have no dietary
need for carbohydrates, but too many carbohydrates can
actually be detrimental to their health, as outlined
below. With this in mind, it would be as illogical to
feed a carnivore a steady diet of meat-flavored cereals
as it would be to feed meat to a vegetarian like a horse
or a cow, right? So why are we continuing to feed our
carnivores like herbivores? Why are we feeding such
a species-inappropriate diet? The answers are simple.
Grains are cheap. Dry food is convenient. Affordability
and convenience sells. But is a carbohydrate-laden,
plant-based, water-depleted dry food the best diet for
our cats? Absolutely not. They are designed to eat meat
– not grains.
Cats Need Plenty of Water With Their Food
Another extremely important nutrient with respect to
overall health is water. It is very important for a
cat to ingest water with its food, as the cat does not
have a very strong thirst drive. This is a critical
point. This lack of a strong thirst drive leads to low-level,
chronic dehydration when dry food makes up the bulk
of their diet. Cats are designed to obtain most of their
water with their diet since their normal prey contains
~70% water. Dry foods only contain ~10% water whereas
canned foods contain ~78% water. Canned foods therefore
more closely approximate the natural diet of the cat
and are better suited to meet the cat's water needs.
A cat consuming a predominantly dry-food diet does drink
more water than a cat consuming a canned food diet,
but in the end, when water from all sources is added
together (what's in their diet plus what they drink),
the cat on dry food consumes approximately HALF the
amount of water compared with a cat eating canned foods.
This is a crucial point when one considers how common
kidney and bladder problems are in the cat.
Learn How To Read a Pet Food Ingredients Label
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The words “natural” or “premium”
are not necessarily indicative of high quality!
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Look for meat as the first ingredient.
This will be listed as “chicken”, “turkey”, etc.
NOT “chicken meal”, or “chicken by-product meal”
or “chicken by-products”, or “chicken broth”. The
term “meal” denotes that it has been rendered (cooked
for a long time at very high temperatures) and is
lower quality than meat that has not been as heavily
processed. By-products can include feet, intestines,
feathers, egg shells, etc. and are less nutritious
than meat.
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Grains should be absent or, at
least, minimal in amount. This means if they are
present, they should not be among the first three
ingredients. Corn and wheat are thought to be common
allergens when compared to other grains such as
rice, oats or barley so it is best to choose a food
that does not contain corn or wheat.
Common Feline Health
Problems and Their Ties to Diet
There is a very strong and extremely logical connection
between the way that we are currently feeding our obligate
carnivores and many of the life-threatening diseases
that afflict them.
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Diabetes: Diabetes is a very
serious – and difficult to manage – disease that
is very common in cats. Why is it so common? The
species-inappropriate high level of carbohydrates
in dry food wreaks havoc on the blood sugar level
of an obligate carnivore. The blood sugar level
rises significantly upon ingestion of dry food.
With chronic hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) the
insulin producing cells in the pancreas down-regulate,
or “burn out,” leading to diabetes.
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Kidney Failure: Kidney disease
is probably the Number One cause of mortality in
the cat. It is troubling to think about the role
that chronic dehydration plays in feline kidney
failure. And remember, cats are chronically dehydrated
when they are on a diet of predominantly dry food.
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Cystitis (bladder inflammation)
and Bladder/Kidney Stones: Cystitis and stones are
extremely common in the cat. The concentration (specific
gravity) of the urine is a critical factor in contributing
to, or preventing, these serious health issues.
Some cats have a higher tendency to form crystals
in their urine. Cats on dry food have more highly
concentrated urine (higher specific gravity) which
means that a higher concentration of stone-forming
crystals will be present in the urine. This increases
the chance of producing life-threatening stones.
Also, a very concentrated level of crystals acts
like 60-grit sandpaper on the delicate bladder wall,
which can lead to painful cystitis. Cystitis can
lead to inappropriate urination (urinating outside
of the litter box) and stones can cause a fatal
rupture of the bladder. (Any cat that is repeatedly
entering the litter box but not voiding any urine
is in need of IMMEDIATE medical attention!) Cats
eating canned food are more appropriately hydrated,
and therefore, have more dilute urine (lower specific
gravity). This greatly decreases their chance for
urinary tract problems.
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Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD):
IBD is thought to be a common cause of vomiting
and diarrhea in the cat. There are many unanswered
questions with respect to this disease process,
but it seems logical to start to “treat” a gastrointestinal
problem in the cat with a species-appropriate diet.
Too often these cats are treated with a high level
of steroids and a so-called “prescription” DRY diet.
I feel very strongly that this common therapeutic
regimen needs to be re-evaluated. There are an impressive
number of anecdotal reports of cats that were terribly
ill with IBD exhibiting dramatic improvement when
ALL dry food was removed from their diet. Taking
it even one step further, there are many reports
of cats with IBD that improved tremendously on a
balanced, grainless, raw diet. (See Resource List
for more information.)
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Obesity: Obligate carnivores
are designed to meet their energy needs with a high
protein, moderate fat diet. Carbohydrates are minimally
used. Those that are not used for energy are converted
to and stored as fat. The so-called “light” diets
that are on the market have targeted the fat content
as the nutrient to be decreased, but in doing so,
the pet food manufacturers have increased the grain
fraction, leading to a higher level of carbohydrates.
Hence, many overweight cats eating these “light”
diets are still obese. These products are among
the most species-inappropriate diets available to
cat caretakers.
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Hepatic Lipidosis (Fatty Liver
Disease): This is the most common metabolic liver
disease of cats. Overweight cats that go longer
than 48 hours without eating, for any reason, are
in danger of developing this serious, and often
fatal, disease. Feeding a high-protein, low-carbohydrate
diet helps keep cats at an optimal, healthy body
weight.
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Dental Disease: Long-standing
claims that cats have less dental disease when they
are fed dry food versus canned food are grossly
overrated, inaccurate, and are not supported by
recent studies. First, dry food is hard, but brittle,
and merely shatters with little to no abrasive effect
on the teeth. Second, the high carbohydrate (read:
sugar) level in dry foods has been shown to cause
dental decay. Third, many cats swallow the majority
of their dry food whole and thus receive minimal
benefit from chewing motion. Finally, a meat-based
diet results in an acidic oral environment which
may actually prevent some forms of dental disease.
There are many factors that contribute to dental
disease in the cat such as genetics, viruses, and
diet. There remain many unanswered questions concerning
the impact of diet on dental health, but feeding
a high starch, species-inappropriate dry diet is
a negative factor. Perhaps, a more natural way to
promote dental health is to feed large chunks of
raw meat. (See below for ‘Home Prepared Diets'.)
Transitioning Dry Food
Addicts to Canned Food
This is the hard part! Cats, like children, often resist
what is best for them. The key is to do it slowly and
with patience. Some cats that have been on dry food
their entire lives will be quite resistant to the diet
change. These cats may take several weeks or longer
to make the transition to a healthier diet. Others will
take to it with the attitude of “finally – an appropriate
diet for my species!!” For some cats, you will need
to use hunger to help with the transition. However,
I would not let them go longer than 24 hours without
eating and some of you may ‘weaken' sooner….like I did.
At that point, you may want to give them only half of
what they would normally eat, just to keep hunger as
an incentive. I prefer to try to ‘convince' them that
a high quality canned food really is good for them,
rather than to starve them into it. Here are some tricks
for the stubborn ones:
- If your cat has been eating dry
food on a free-choice basis, take up the food and
establish a schedule of twice a day feedings. Leave
the food down for 30 minutes. Once your cat is on
a schedule you will notice that he is more enthusiastic
about food.
- Cats prefer their food at “body
temperature”, but do not warm the food more than
once or twice as this will promote bacterial growth.
- Sprinkle a very small amount
of tuna – or any other favorite treat (some cats
do not like fish) - on the top of the canned food
and then once they are eating this, start pressing
it into the top of the new food. (The “light” tuna
is better than the fancy white tuna because it has
a stronger smell. Or, Trader Joe's makes a Cat Tuna
that is very stinky!)
- Pour a small amount of the water
from the tuna over the top of the canned food.
- Crush some dry food and sprinkle
it on the top of the new food.
- If you have a multiple cat household,
some cats like to eat alone so you may need to take
these cats into a separate room and feed them canned
food/tuna ‘meatballs' by hand. This worked for one
of my stubborn, timid cats. In a quiet setting,
he would eat from my hand and then, finally, from
a bowl. I'm not sure who was being trained.
Home-Prepared Diets
These diets can be the absolute best or the very worst
thing that you can do for your cat. You must do your
homework and educate yourself with regard to preparing
a balanced diet for a cat. A cat cannot live on meat
alone. There is not enough calcium, taurine, essential
fatty acids, etc. in just plain meat, so you must be
careful to prepare the diet using the necessary ingredients—and
always remember that calcium is not an optional “supplement,”
but a very critical component of the diet. Use extreme
caution if you choose to buy a pre-ground raw pet food
(as opposed to making it yourself using your own grinder).
Personally, I would advise against these diets as pre-ground
meat is much more likely to be contaminated with high
levels of bacteria when compared to whole meat that
you would grind yourself. Many people have a strong
negative reaction to feeding a raw meat diet but in
reality, a properly handled and prepared raw diet has
much less bacteria in it than many commercial pet foods.
Commercial pet foods also may contain high levels of
mold toxins from grains which is never a danger in a
home-prepared, grainless diet. Cats are very different
from humans with respect their susceptibility to ‘food
poisoning'. Cats have a much shorter transit time through
their intestinal tract than humans do. (~12 hours for
the cat versus ~35-55 hours for the human.) This is
a very important point because the more time bacteria
spend in the intestines, the more they multiply, eventually
leading to intestinal upset. Purchasing free-range,
antibiotic- and hormone-free whole meats from a reputable
butcher such as Whole Foods Market and adhering to safe
meat handling practices are important steps to take
when preparing a raw food diet. Good choices include
dark poultry meats (such as thighs and drumsticks which
are more nutritious than white meats if you choose to
not grind a whole carcass) or rabbit. (See Resource
List for more information on recipes for home-prepared
diets.)
Congratulations if you have made it to this point in
the handout! You must really care about feeding your
cat a healthy diet and are open to new ideas regarding
their nutritional needs. This paper has outlined what
I feel is optimal nutrition for an obligate carnivore.
The most common complaint that I hear from people is
that their cat will NOT eat canned food and will ONLY
eat dry food. My cats fell into this category which
was not surprising since they had been on a 100% dry
food diet their entire lives and range in age from 5-10
years. For the past three months, I have been patiently
convincing them that they are carnivores and need meat
– and not in a dry, overly processed form. It has been
a little rough, at times, since two of my cats get very
crabby with their housemates when they are hungry. These
boys were then taken in a separate room and fed some
dry food. I do not like unrest in my home! Surprisingly,
one of my most stubborn dry food addicts is now happily
eating a home-prepared raw food diet that he actually
likes better than the canned food. To be very honest,
it does my heart good to see my little carnivores gnawing
on raw meat – eating a diet that was meant for their
species! My personal goal is to have my cats eating
a species-appropriate diet consisting of raw and cooked
meats and organs using a properly balanced recipe, plus
a high quality canned food – for variety and convenience.
When I first started the diet transition, I was going
to be satisfied with ‘giving in' to my dry food addicts
and letting their diet comprise 10-20% dry food, but
I have seen their addiction slowly wane to the point
that it is no longer an issue. However, I certainly
don't feel like I would have been a horrible ‘cat mom'
if I had chosen to continue feeding a little dry food.
Everyone's lives are different and the goal of this
handout is to arm you with knowledge about the special
dietary needs of your cat so you can strike a balance
that works for both of you.
The next page contains a list of some of the higher
quality commercial canned cat foods and some resources
for further information on feline nutrition.
May 2003
Lisa A. Pierson, DVM
Kitysaver@aol.com
COMMERCIAL CANNED FOODS
FOR YOUR FELINE CARNIVORE
No commercial cat food you buy is without some drawbacks,
but listed below are some canned foods made by companies
that have gone the extra mile to minimize grains and
other plant-based “fillers” in their foods and use a
high quality meat as the primary ingredient. The listed
foods are also void of any questionable preservatives
such as BHA, BHT, and ethoxyquin and do not contain
any byproducts. None of the listed products contain
corn or wheat. This list is not comprehensive. Companies
also have variations in ingredients within their own
product line. Remember to always read the ingredient
list and bear in mind that just because a label says
“premium” or “natural”, this does not necessarily mean
that the food inside the can is appropriate for your
carnivore. Websites are listed for your convenience
in order to find the stores nearest you that carry the
company's products. (Call the stores to see if they
do carry the products.)
Wysong's Plain Canned Meats Plus Supplement: (http://www.wysong.net/)
Several of Wysong's regular canned diets have undesirable
grains in them but the plain canned meats do not. You
must add Wysong's “Call of the Wild” product to ensure
that the meals are properly balanced. These products
are relatively expensive. Sold at Animal Lovers.
Wysong's Archetype: This is not a canned food. It is
a cold-processed grainless diet, containing high quality
meats, bones, organs, probiotic cultures, and other
supplements. You add water to hydrate this food and
then serve. This product is relatively expensive.
Wellness: (http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/ ) Wellness
is the only grainless canned diet on this list other
than the Wysong Canned Meats. It also has the highest
taurine level – matched only by Innova and PetGuard.
Sold at Centinela Feed & Pet Supplies.
Innova: (http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=home-tab)
Sold at Centinela Feed & Pet Supplies.
Felidae: (http://www.canidae.com/) Sold at 7 Dog Heaven,
Pet Care Co., Animal Lovers, Centinela, etc.
Pinnacle, APD, Avoderm: (http://www.breeders-choice.com/)
Sold at Kritter Korral, Animal Lovers, etc.
PetGuard: (www.petguard.com) Sold at Whole Foods Market.
Precise: (http://www.precisepet.com/) Sold at Whole
Foods Market.
Active Life: (www.activelifepp.com) Sold at Pawfect
World, Buzz's.
Natural Balance: (www.naturalbalanceinc.com) Sold at
Petco, Pet Care Co., 7 Dog Heaven, Buzz's, etc.
SOME RELEVANT RESOURCES AND SUGGESTED READING
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Journal of the American Veterinary
Medical Association, December 1st, 2002 (Volume
221, Number 11), Timely Topics in Nutrition, “The
Carnivore Connection to Nutrition in Cats,” by Debra
L. Zoran, DVM, PhD, DACVIM. http://home.earthlink.net/~jacm2/id1.html
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Information and recipes for home-prepared
diets, general nutrition, and testimonials from
caregivers of cats with IBD regarding the link between
diet and digestive health. Yahoo e-groups' Feline
IBD website at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FelineIBD
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